


What If We Don't Survive

by katakoo



Series: The Chipped and the Broken [1]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Catra (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, Catra (She-Ra) Swears, Chipped Catra (She-Ra), Entrapta Being Entrapta (She-Ra), F/F, F/M, Glimmer (She-Ra) Swears, Lesbian Disaster Adora (She-Ra), Minor Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra), Pain, happy ending? never heard of her, my poor baby catra, no beta we die like men, starts after corridors (s5e3), they don't deserve this :(
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:22:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27893023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katakoo/pseuds/katakoo
Summary: Adora looked up at the ceiling. "I was picturing all the terrible things that could be happening to – her – right now.""Well, isn't that a good thing? It would get one less soldier for Prime. I thought you wanted to end him?"Adora couldn't believe what Glimmer had just said. "She saved you, Glimmer! I think there's still some good in her! I have to go back for her, I have to at least try!""You want to go back for her? Yes, she saved me, but she also fucking killed my mother! How can you even think about risking yourself for a person who's not even on our side?""She is on our side! How can you even think about leaving her behind? Like Entrapta?"Glimmer's face went totally blank. Adora knew she'd hurt her this time."Well, Catra is not Entrapta. Everything would be better if she was fucking dead. Unlike Catra, Entrapta's actually doing something good for the Rebellion.""Catra's still my... childhood friend! How can you not see that she means something to me, Glimmer?"
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Series: The Chipped and the Broken [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2112975
Comments: 72
Kudos: 210





	1. Adora

Adora watched as Bow gently held Glimmer. Her shimmering form fit so well into his arms. It looked so beautiful to Adora. Not in the traditional way, though. Bow was sweaty, breathing raggedly after retrieving Glimmer from space. His hair was sticking out to all possible directions: standing up, clumping at the sides of his head and clinging to his forehead and the back of his neck. Glimmer looked even worse. For the whole time on Prime's ship, she wasn't too bothered to take care of her hygiene. Her usually perfectly done makeup was smeared all over her face, and she seemed extremely exhausted and traumatized.

No, the beauty of the scene in front of Adora was emotional, real. She found herself wishing she could have a connection like that with someone, someday. Actually, one specific person already came to her mind. The person she'd thought of first thing in the morning and last thing before she fell asleep, since even before she'd left the Horde. The person who'd been on her mind more and more lately.

The person who just saved Glimmer?

"Hello, Glimmer! Welcome back aboard!" Entrapta rode into the spaceship's main hall on Emily. The expression on her face was truly something. Adora knew that look, and it meant she was thinking about, or just had, done something absolutely crazy. On the other hand, these days, Entrapta did crazy things all the time, and that look meant pretty much nothing already.

Glimmer and Bow slowly opened their eyes and noticed how their bodies clung together. They jumped away from one another like their feelings were a bad thing. _God, they can be so stupid sometimes_ , Adora thought. If they could just admit they love each other and Bow could stop being mad, all of this would be so much easier!

"I did some tweaks on Darla, and good news, it's got just enough power to take us back to Etheria!" the purple-haired princess shouted, oblivious of the drama between Bow and Glimmer. She laughed maniacally and sprinted to the control panel, pushing buttons with her hair.

"Entrapta?" Bow said, rising to his feet. He and Glimmer exchanged a concerned look, and Adora was sure they were communicating with each other non-verbally. Something she also wanted to do with that person. If only she were here. "What exactly did you _tweak_?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing major. Just, routine check-ups, haha, I didn't do _anything_!" Entrapta scratched the back of her neck, and if Adora saw her face, she would 100% see that it was as red as a tomato and sweating profusely. She had definitely done something major.

"Entrapta knows her shit, okay, Bow? The most important thing right now is getting back to our planet. I fucked everything up, and now it's time for me to fix it." Glimmer put her hand on his shoulder reassuringly, though he immediately shook it off.

"You did destroy everything," he said angrily. He took a deep breath, turned around and walked out of the room. He'd seemed calm on the outside, but on the inside, he was boiling. "Entrapta, set a course for Etheria."

***

A while later, Adora came into Glimmer's cabin. She was sitting on her bed with her head in her hands and didn't even notice Adora until she put her hand on her back.

"You and Bow are going to be okay. He'll come around, I know he will." She hugged her pink-haired friend. Glimmer sobbed against her shoulder. "He hates me, Adora. I allowed Prime to come to Etheria, and he's destroying everything we love."

That person came into Adora's thoughts again. She saw her suffering, being beaten, tortured. Prime was destroying her, too.

"Did you see what happened to... to..." It hurt, saying her name. She'd done so many bad things. No, bad doesn't describe it. Horrendous things, but the thought of anything happening to her haunted Adora's mind.

"Catra... she... the last thing I saw was a bunch of clones closing in on her. I don't know what'll happen to her, but I know it's not good. I'm sorry, I should have helped her, but everything was happening so fast, and I..."

Adora didn't hear the end of that sentence. She was fully in her imaginary world, going through the worst things that could happen to Catra. What if she got thrown into the crushing void of space? What if she was suffocating there, helpless, but Adora was going towards Etheria, in the opposite direction? She could never reach her in time, and Catra would die, thinking that Adora hated her. She did, but there was also another feeling. Warm. It was like...

"Adora!" Glimmer's face loomed on top of hers, and her head was throbbing. She felt something hard beneath her, like the floor of the ship. She was laying on the floor of the ship. She sat up, holding her head.

"What happened?" she asked her friend.

"I don't fucking know, you tell me! One moment, you were fine, and a second later, you totally blacked out! Are you okay? Should I call Entrapta?"

"No, no, I'm fine, don't worry." Adora looked up at the ceiling. "I was picturing all the terrible things that could be happening to – her – right now."

"Well, isn't that a good thing? It would get one less soldier for Prime. I thought you wanted to end him?"

Adora couldn't believe what Glimmer had just said. "She saved you, Glimmer! I think there's still some good in her! I have to go back for her, I have to at least try!"

"You want to _go back for her_? Yes, she saved me, but she also fucking killed my mother! How can you even _think_ about risking yourself for a person who's not even on our side?"

"She _is_ on our side! How can _you_ even think about leaving her behind? Like Entrapta?"

Glimmer's face went totally blank. Adora knew she'd hurt her this time.

"Well, _Catra_ is not _Entrapta_. Everything would be better if she was fucking dead. Unlike Catra, Entrapta's actually doing something good for the Rebellion."

"Catra's still my... childhood friend! How can you not see that she means something to _me_ , Glimmer?"

She looked into Adora's eyes. In them, she saw... desperation, probably? Panic? How much Adora – likes – Catra? For a moment, she actually thought Glimmer would help her. That they would save Catra together, the Best Friend Squad way, and Catra could join them. They would finally be on the same side. They could finally be... close, again.

But then, something changed. Glimmer's eyes turned cold, emotionless.

"As your queen, I am _ordering_ you to stay away from Prime's ship. The Rebellion can't lose its strongest soldier for a crush." The queen sat on her bed and began catching her breath from all the shouting.

" _Out_ , She-ra."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So excited to finally be publishing my story! It took me a couple months to finally muster up the courage to do this. I’ll try to upload maybe twice a week but I can’t promise anything since I am in high school and don’t have a lot of time to write. Hope y’all like my work!


	2. Catra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra gets chipped. My poor baby :(((

"You have disappointed me, little sister."

Catra was standing at the edge of the green reconditioning pool, and Prime loomed tall before her. His four eyes were staring right into her soul. There were clones all around her and Prime. Their lime green, glowing eyes stared at them. Why was everything green? She fucking hated green and everything associated with that color on that motherfucker’s ship. She knew that this was the end. She saw what the green liquid did to Hordak. She couldn't even think about running away, not with all these clones around. She was going to end up a clone, but she would fight till the very end. She was going to go out with pride. She knew Adora would be proud of that.

"Answer me, little sister."

"You know what?" she smirked. "Fuck no."

"You're going to answer me, little sister. Today is your lucky day. You will come into the light of Prime."

"Or what, you're going to wipe my mind and use me against Adora? Oh, wait."

"It doesn't matter what you do now, little sister. Your fate is sealed."

The clones started chanting: "All beings must suffer to become pure! All beings must suffer to become pure! All beings must suffer to become pure!" That creeped the hell out of Catra.

"Oh, really? Then, I might as well do this!" She brought her hand up, curled it into a fist, and punched Prime right in the face. There was a metallic _clang_ as her fist bounced right off his exoskeleton. She screamed as pain shot up her arm. There were already clones there, ready to grab and restrain her. Catra kept trying to thrash in their iron grip and scratch anything she could with her claws, even if her arm hurt even more. _For Adora_ , she thought.

"Oh, little sister. I thought you knew by now that Prime does not feel pain. I really thought you had more in you."

The clones pushed her closer to the pool. She broke free of their restraints and whirled around to face them, only to trip up on the edge and fall, fall, fall into the green liquid, head first.

***

Catra heard the chanting, but didn't listen. She wasn't here. She was... in her own head. It was completely black. A door opened somewhere far away, light coming through it. Catra braced herself for seeing Prime, but – it was a blonde girl. A toddler. She knew her somehow, but she couldn't place it. The girl motioned for her to follow her. "Come on, new friend!"

She took the blonde's hand and she was four again, running through the halls of the Fright Zone, though, at the time, she didn't know what it was called. It was just a new, big, scary place for her.

They entered the sleeping room. It was filled with bunk beds with blue and white bedding, the fluorescent lights being slightly green-toned. She hated green, though she didn't remember why.

They sat onto a bottom bunk, the fifth bed from the left. Her new friend, the blonde girl, looked at her curiously.

"I'm Adora. What's your name?" she asked. That question was hard for her to answer. She didn't know. She didn't have a name.

"You don't have a name? Well, I'll give you one!" the girl stared at her. "You're like a... cat! Hold on, I know what your name is! From now on, you're Catra. Catra Meowmeow!" the girl looked triumphant to have figured that name out on her own.

"I... I like it. My name. Catra Meowmeow. Thanks, Adora." Catra looked at her sheepishly.

"Oh, no problem! Wait, if I get to give you a name, I should get to give you a middle name, too!" Her gaze fell upon a container on her pillow. Her eyes lit up, she must have thought of something. "Applesauce! Applesauce is yummy! How do you like Applesauce for a middle name?"

"I don't know. I've never tasted applesauce before." Whatever that is.

"You've _never_ tasted applesauce before? Holy smokes, it's so tasty! Shadow Weaver gives me some whenever I've been good. She's sort of like my mom. Here, try it!" Adora gave her the container. It was the best thing Catra had tasted in her life.

Suddenly, all the beds turned a violently bright shade of green and disappeared into thin air. Her new friend Adora morphed into Prime. He stood, tall, in front of now-twenty-year-old Catra.

"You don't _have_ a name. No beings who have come into my light need a name, little sister."

Her body flamed up with searing pain. She crumpled to her knees. She couldn't keep her eyes open. She couldn't think. She could only suffer.

"All beings must suffer to become pure! All beings must suffer to become pure! All beings must suffer to become pure!"

***

Once again, she was surrounded by blackness. Wait, again? Had she been here before? She didn't remember. She remembered nothing.

A door opened right in front of her, casting her in light. She didn't want to come into the light. She didn't remember why, but she just didn't. Nonetheless, she went through the door.

She was twelve and running through the corridors of the Fright Zone, alone this time. She was running away from something. Some _one_. Adora. Her name made her feel something, though she didn't know what.

She saw some boxes on the floor. There were shadows on the other side of them. She wanted to go into the shadows. To hide from the green-toned fluorescent light. She didn't know why, but she hated green. She sprinted in the shadows, curled up into a ball, and tears started streaming down her cheeks.

"Catra?" Adora called, breathless from running after her. Catra. Was that her name? No, she didn't have a name. She didn't need a name.

"I knew I'd find you here. You always come here when you're sad. What happened?" Adora came and sat beside her. She scratched behind her ear. Adora always knew how to comfort her. She started purring.

"I came in second place at training again! You always fucking beat me! Shadow Weaver hates me, and I'll never be the best!"

"What are you talking about? Shadow Weaver doesn't hate you, she's just giving you tough love! And besides, you don't need to be the best when you've got me! If you were the best, you'd need to be a Force Captain, and that comes with all this extra stuff you need to do!" Adora put her hands on her shoulders. "Look, here's what we'll do. I'll be Force Captain and take care of all that administrative busywork, and you'll be my second-in command! We'll rule the world, together!"

Adora stood up and helped her to her feet. "Come out of the shadows," she said.

The boxes turned a bright lime color and disappeared into thin air. Adora morphed into Horde Prime, who stood, tall and grand, above her.

"Come now, little sister. You can be the best in my light. No need for the darkness."

She stepped into the blinding, green-hued light. It burned her eyes, her whole body. She fell backwards, stiff as a board. She couldn't keep her eyes open. She couldn't think. She could only suffer, and scream.

"All beings must suffer to become pure! All beings must suffer to become pure! All beings must suffer to become pure!"

***

There was nothing. She was surrounded by greenish light. Had this happened before? She couldn't remember. A door opened behind her. She stepped inside.

This time, she was seventeen and running through the corridors of the Fright Zone. Something seemed... off. The whole place was filled with bright green-hued fluorescent light, even where there were supposed to be shadows. She didn't like the color green. Or light. But she couldn't remember why.

She ran into the sleeping room. Adora sat on her bunk bed, her hair cascading on her shoulders. She liked it when Adora let her hair down. She thought it looked pretty. At least she didn't have that dumb hair poof. Tonight was the night of their sleepover. She swung her backpack on Adora's bottom bunk. It was filled with grey ration bars from the kitchen, which she had just raided.

"Aw, Catra, you got the grey kind? They're way better than the brown kind! Also, Shadow Weaver's going to kill us tomorrow for raiding the kitchen!" They laughed so hard their eyes filled with tears. She didn't know why Adora called her Catra though. That wasn't her name. She didn't have a name. She didn't need a name.

The two girls fell back on the bed and started eating their ration bars. After a while, she said:

"Adora?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever feel like... like there are spiders in your stomach?"

"Spiders...?" Adora's face looked confused. Her brows furrowed. She thought Adora looked very cute doing that.

“I don't know. Something that tickles inside, close to the heart. I can feel it even now."

Adora sat up, worried. "Do you think it's something bad? Do you want me to call someone?" She looked beautiful, even when she was frightened. And she was frightened for her, which made the spiders in her stomach even more intense.

"No! It's not bad. It doesn't... it doesn't hurt." She felt her cheeks flush. "I can feel it every time I'm with you."

"So, like, every hour of the day?" Adora asked, with that dumb smirk of hers. It's true, they were together all the time. And she did feel the spiders all the time.

"Yeah, basically," she said.

"Well, I'd better stay away from you then." Her smirk got even wider, which she didn't even think was possible. "I don't want your stomach to be full of spiders because of me." Adora started to move away.

"Adora, wait!" She grabbed her hand and pulled her close. "Please, stay close to me. It's a nice feeling."

They laid on the bed together in silence for a couple minutes. She was blushing the entire time, her face hot. She turned to look at Adora, whose cheeks were also a little red.

"I think I understand what you mean," she said.

"You do?"

"Yes. Sometimes I can feel my heart beating faster. Beating more." She burst out laughing. "Oh, and now that you've said it, I can feel them. The spiders."

"Do you... like it?"

The whole room filled with green light. All the furniture was gone, and Adora was gone. In her place stood Horde Prime, tall and magnificent.

"A very fine set of memories. But are you finally ready to come into my light, little sister? Forget the spiders? Forget Adora?"

"Never!" Catra shouted, because that was her name, and she would never forget Adora. She would never be Prime's pawn to use against Adora as he pleased.

Suddenly, Catra felt pain. Immeasurable pain, worse than before. She felt like her insides were fucking exploding. She couldn't keep her eyes open. She couldn't think. She couldn't remember her name. She couldn't remember Adora. She could only suffer, and scream, and bow to Prime.

"All beings must suffer to become pure! All beings must suffer to become pure! All beings must suffer to become pure!"

Prime stood before her. He was surrounded by his magnificent light. She felt peace. Peace in her heart, and in her soul. She was pure. She was free.

"Rise, little sister."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, that chapter was a doozy to write and I'm so happy that it's finally out! Just a side note that the last flashback wasn’t completely my idea, it was based on a comic called Spiders by tinymirtillino on Twitter.  
> Anyway, have a great rest of your day and chapter 3 will be coming out around Friday!


	3. Adora

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora and the squad return to Etheria and she gets a little surprise in the night... its not smut i promise lol

The spaceship shook uncontrollably. _Well, this is it_ , Adora thought. This is how they were going to go. Her, Bow and Glimmer braced themselves to be shot into space or something just as awful.

"Don't worry, friends!" Entrapta popped her head into the control room. "Darla is totally fine! We'll land on Etheria shortly. We're just a _tiny bit_ low on power!" She cackled as she disappeared into the ship again.

"That means we'll _crash_ on Etheria shortly, right?" Glimmer glanced at both of them with just a little bit of panic in her eyes.

"Yeah, pretty much," Adora said. "But hey, what's the worst thing that can happen?"

"We _die_!" Bow countered, his voice cracking anxiously. He was curled up in a ball under the control panel, biting his nails. Yeah, he was the worst of all of them at handling stress.

They heard an ear-splitting _bang_ as the front of the ship touched the surface of their planet. Adora, Bow and Glimmer were thrown forward, and back again when the back of the ship fell on the ground as well.

"Yes, that went so much better than expected!" Entrapta reemerged in the middle of the grumbly Best Friend Squad. Adora didn't even _want_ to know how she expected it to go.

***

They stepped out of the spaceship door and were greeted by Swift Wind, Perfuma, Frosta, Netossa and Sea Hawk. All of them looked excited to welcome them back to Etheria, but something in their expressions was off.

"Where are all the others?" Adora asked. "Scorpia, Mermista, Spinnerella?"

Perfuma looked down, almost ashamed. "They... We don't really know what happened to them. They seemed to be under some sort of Horde Prime mind control. They were trying to hurt us." There was real pain on every single one of their faces, although it looked different for everyone. Frosta was so angry, she looked like she was about to punch something. Sea Hawk looked... lost. It's almost like he didn't know what to do with himself with Mermista not around. Netossa was a mess. She had dark circles under her eyes, like she hadn't slept trying to figure out how to get her wife back.

"Do you know how to save them?" Adora stepped closer to what was left of the Rebellion. She didn't know how to comfort them. Why weren't people skills taught in Force Captain Orientation?

"Well, technically, we do," Swift Wind said, bowing his head down to Adora's level. "Everyone Prime's mind controlled has a chip on the back of their necks. You just have to pull it out."

"But, since Scorpia, Mermista and Spinny have powers, it's kind of difficult to get close enough to them to do that," Netossa finished.

"Wait a second," Adora shook her head. "Prime has control of more people?"

"He's mind controlled almost everyone, Adora. The people of Etheria are part of his army now." Perfuma began to sit down, defeated, on a giant flower petal she'd made into a chair for herself. It crumbled almost immediately, dropping the princess to the ground. "And he's infected the planet. He's destroying it. And since the plants are weak, my powers are no good anymore." She conjured up a flower that wilted and died within seconds.

"There's got to be a way to save everyone." Adora began pacing in front of her friends. "We have to fight Prime. We have to get our friends back."

"Adora, we've talked about this on Darla. Charging into battle with nine people against all of the Horde, three princesses and the whole population of Etheria would be a shit idea, and we would just get ourselves killed." Glimmer pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "We need to at least think before we act. We'll plan our attack in the morning. Right now, we're all tired and should get some sleep." She turned and went into a tent, closing its door flaps behind her.

"Glimmer! Wait!" Adora reached her hand out towards her. "We need to help them. We need to defeat Prime!"

Bow put his hand on her shoulder. "It's for the best. We're not strong enough, especially now. Besides, if we die now, there isn't going to be anyone to save the rest. You need to think about yourself, Adora."

"Believe me, I want to save my wife, I really do. But Glimmer's right, we have to think about this." Netossa went into her tent as well. "Good night, everyone. Wake me up for second watch, Swifty."

God, everyone was so _stupid_. The Rebellion needed to save Etheria, that's what it was for. But, Adora supposed, she could wait a night to attack. She still needed all her friends, or else, she was definitely going to be overpowered. Her sleep was shallow and restless that night, filled with images of _her_.

***

Adora woke up, sweaty. It wasn't morning yet, it was so dark she almost couldn't make out the shapes of furniture in her tent. Her sword laid, broken, on a long table beside her bed. She tried to fall back asleep, but then she heard it again.

The sound that had awoken her.

Laughing.

"Catra?" Adora called out, breathless. She sat up on her bed. Maybe she'd imagined it.

No, she hadn't. There it was again. Catra's laughter, her favorite sound in the whole entire world. It came from outside, from the woods.

Adora stood up, threw on her jacket and boots, and stepped outside. "Catra?" She said quietly, to not wake up her friends. Catra had escaped. She'd come for her. She was on their side. Hope filled her heart and made her smile wide.

Something moved in the trees. Some _one_. She had shorter hair now, and she was clad in a white outfit instead of her usual red and black, but there was no mistaking it. That was Catra.

She ran for the forest, behind her childhood friend, who also started to run. "Catra!" Adora shouted. Her lungs started to burn, but she kept on running. She couldn't let her get away again. She wanted to hold her, to tell her it was going to be alright. She wanted to feel her close again.

Suddenly, Catra stopped. They had arrived at a large clearing, around twenty meters in diameter. Adora caught up to her, standing a small distance behind her. "Catra! I've missed you so much! Let's get to camp and I'll fill you in on everything that's happened. You can show Glimmer you're on our side!" She bit her lip. "You _are_ on our side now, right?"

She slowly started to turn around. Adora was so excited to see her face after such a long time. As Catra faced her, though, she saw, horrified, the large Horde symbol on her chest. Her bright green, glowing eyes stared right at her.

"Hello, Adora."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What shenanigans will our favorite couple get into next 👀 chapter 4 coming out Monday!


	4. Glimmer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This time, it's Glimmer who gets a surprise in the night, and it's not just one - it's two!

Glimmer was laying on her bed, but she couldn’t sleep to save her life. Too fucking much had happened in the last… she couldn’t even say how many days. Instead, she was tossing and turning, overthinking every single decision she’d ever made.

She _had_ made the right choice. She knew she did. Allowing Adora to fight would be reckless and irresponsible, and she was not that kind of queen. And what kind of queen would she be if she let an enemy into their camp, or worse, let her best soldier get killed because of that enemy? Just because Adora had a crush on Catra?

And the crush thing, I mean, come on, it was obvious. Glimmer always had a feeling that her friend wasn’t straight, and her feeling was confirmed in the Crimson waste, when Adora wanted to get along with Huntara a little too badly. Let’s face it, she was a walking gay disaster.

Yes, on Prime’s ship, Glimmer saw new sides of Catra, things she’d never seen before. Like the fact that she was totally, completely in love with Adora. And that she’d probably been immeasurably hurt by everyone leaving her. The love of her life, her mother figure and the one person who seemed to care about her. But that didn’t excuse the many, _many_ shitty things she’d done, even if they were a defense mechanism.

She knew that she had to apologize to her friend. The things she’d said had definitely hurt her feelings. Oh god, why did she just end up fucking everything up when she was just trying to do the right thing? Both Bow and Adora were mad at her, and at this moment, she was completely alone.

She needed to make things right with both of them.

***

Glimmer got out of bed, got dressed in her day-to-day outfit, combed through her shiny, pink hair and stepped out of the tent. She breathed in the fresh night air and gave herself a little pep talk in her head.

 _Come on, Glimmer_ , she took a deep breath in. _You are the fucking queen of Bright moon. You have fought the Horde and won. You are a strong, powerful woman and a badass bitch. Your friends are understanding and kind, and they will accept your apology. You can fucking do this._

She opened her eyes, just in time to hear a hushed shout.

“Catra!”

It was coming from the woods, close to Adora’s tent. She sprinted in the direction of the sound, which was easy since she yelled her name several times. Glimmer was sure Adora was just imagining her, or she was sleepwalking. Or Glimmer was imagining the shout. There was no way Catra had figured out how to get out on her own, and Prime’s ship couldn’t have come to Etheria this fast, could it?

Nonetheless, she saw two people at a large clearing. One of them was definitely Adora. Glimmer went and hid behind some bushes, trying not to make a sound. She wanted to see how this develops.

The other person at the clearing wore a tight, white bodysuit. Their hood was up, and the shadows were obscuring their face. It could have been anyone. All in all, they looked very suspicious, but the detail that made Glimmer very worried was the big, black Horde symbol on the person’s chest.

She watched as Adora told them how she missed Catra, and that she was so happy she was back. To answer, the person turned around to face her, lifted up their hood and…

It was the most terrifying thing Glimmer had seen in her life. It _was_ Catra, but… it wasn’t. Her eyes glowed bright green, a color she’d become very familiar with on Prime’s ship. She didn’t move or act like herself, it was almost like someone was controlling her, puppeteering her.

“Hello, Adora.”

Holy fuck, that was frightening. Adora will be traumatized about this for the rest of her fucking life, even if they can fix Catra. She also knew that whenever a fight broke between Adora and Catra, even if it was intensely sexually charged, it was never good. She needed to warn the others.

***

As she ran as fast as she could to the camp, she noticed another woman running for it, too. Netossa. She was on watch. What could be so urgent that she’d have to run that fast?

“Glimmer! Glimmer, thank god you’re awake. Prime’s armies have been sighted coming right for us.”

“Oh shit, it was a fucking distraction!” she put her hands on her knees and caught her breath. “Adora… Adora saw Catra and they’re in the woods now – “

“Hold on a second, there. Catra? The Catra who works for Prime? The Catra who wants to _kill_ Adora with every fiber of her being? The Catra who Adora is madly in love with?”

“Yes, yes, that shithead. Now, what I was trying to say was I think she’s under Prime’s mind control, and that’s probably not good. Her eyes glowed green and she wasn’t acting like herself. She must be chipped, like the others.”

“Well, that’s definitely not good. And it’s not good that Prime is _at our doorstep_ right the hell now!” She pointed in the direction she’d come from, still panting.

“And we don’t have Adora because she’s with Catra! Oh shit, oh shit – “ Her mind started making up scenarios again. Worst-case, awful ones. Catra would kill Adora, so she wouldn’t be able to protect the rest of them. Prime’s armies would be way too big for them to handle on their own, especially with three princesses chipped. Basically, they would all fucking die, and so would their planet.

“I know the situation might seem hopeless,” Netossa said, taking Glimmer in for a hug. “But we need a plan. Do we trust that Adora can defeat Catra and go fight Prime or do we help her?”

“I don’t know, Netossa,” Glimmer fell limp, defeated, leaning on the woman. “We need as many soldiers as we have fighting Prime, but Adora can’t transform right now and if that’s true, Catra can easily beat her.”

“If I may offer up some advice,” she said, “She-ra can take Catra and once she does, she’ll be essential in defeating the Horde. If Adora can’t transform right now, she won’t be able to in the battle, and she’ll be of little help to us.” She sighed deeply. “I know this might be hard to hear, but we need to leave her behind.”

“No, it’s okay.” Glimmer pulled away from the hug, tears glinting in her eyes. “It makes sense.” Her face hardened into a stone-cold scowl. “Let’s go kick some Horde ass!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is getting ✨interesting✨ chapter 5 coming on Thursday!


	5. Catra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My poor baby Catra does not deserve all this suffering :(

“Hello, Adora.”

It was like there were two people inside her, fighting for dominance. There was Catra, the one who loved Adora and did not want to hurt her or be on Prime’s side. She had fully changed during the time on his ship, when she was talking to Glimmer.

_“We used to have those. Sleepovers. Me and Adora. When we were cadets in the Horde. We’d play tricks on Kyle, and stay up all night whispering about… you know, whatever.”_

Catra was loving and caring, with a little bit of sass sprinkled in. Okay, a lot of sass. She was sassy with a little bit of love and caring sprinkled in. There, fixed the sentence.

_“You should’ve seen your face! You were like: ‘AAHHH! NOOooo! Betrayal!’”_

She was ambitious, and she’d do whatever it fucking takes to reach her goals, even if that were standing up to authority and, potentially, risking her life.

_“Hey, Hordak! Missing something? Looks like you’re ready to listen. Hey, cheer up, boss, you said it yourself: big, bad Horde Prime got your signal. Don’t you want to conquer Etheria before he gets here? He doesn’t sound like the type to accept failure. We’re done with your little vanity projects. It’s time to crush the Rebellion, for good. And you’re going to help me do that. I think you and I are going to do great things together.”_

Well, she wasn’t exactly proud of wanting to “crush the Rebellion, for good,” but that fearlessness and ambition allowed her to survive. And she knew Adora admired those traits in her.

Then there was Little Sister. She was… the opposite of what Catra was. No personality, no love, no bravery, not even fucking sass. There was only submission. Total servitude to that booming voice in her head. The one that told her to punch, scratch, kick. She couldn’t think about anything else when she heard that voice. Prime’s voice. It was filling her head, pushing her out of it. Catra felt what she was doing, saw how much pain it caused Adora, both physical and emotional. She couldn’t control herself, she was like a stranger in her own body.

Sometimes, when Little Sister took total control, it was like she saw everything through a haze. She couldn’t remember her name, and that blonde she was fighting, who was that? She felt like she remembered her somehow.

_“Are you kidding? That’s awesome! We’re gonna see the world! And conquer it! Adora, I need to blow something up!”_

That was it. Adora. That was her name. Adora. Adora. Adora. She couldn’t fucking forget it again, she couldn’t let Prime win, with his ugly green and his piercing light…

Punch. Kick. Punch.

He never told her to dodge. Or parry. He didn’t care about her body being hurt. It already ached in several places where the blonde – oh yeah, Adora – hit her with a sword. Didn’t she look different in their earlier fights? Or maybe that was her memory playing tricks on her again.

_“Wow. You know, the tiara actually gets stupider the more I look at it.”_

“Catra?” Adora called, panting.

Catra? Was that her name? Yes, it was. No, she didn’t need a name. Yes. No. Yes. No. Yes.

“I know you’re in there somewhere!” she continued.

Yes, that was her. Catra. No, Catra was gone, it was Little Sister now. She got so confused. Her thoughts and memories were all fucked up.

_“I’ll never say sorry to anybody, ever!”_

_“Just listen! Adora, I’m sorry! For everything!”_

_“Me and Adora, we’re not friends, I don’t know anything about her plans!”_

_“You’re supposed to be MY friend.”_

_“Ugh, I knew you’d be weird about me letting you escape. I told you, it’s not because I like you!”_

“Please, Catra, give me a sign that you’re still there!” She had tears in her eyes now. She was desperate. Traumatized. Just like Catra was.

But she couldn’t give her a sign, Little Sister was too strong. She even struggled to remember Adora’s name. It filled her thoughts to not disappear in the shitstorm of random words and memories. Real, fake. Catra was convinced some were made up by Prime. I mean, why did she and Adora dance at a party together? As far as she remembered, there were no parties in the Fright Zone, and after Adora left, they were enemies. And that one in the weird lighthouse thing, where they were laughing together and running while holding hands? It didn’t make any sense. Why did nothing make sense?

Right. She needed to give Adora a sign. Adora. Adora. Adora. She couldn’t forget her. Catra fought and fought and fought Prime in her mind, and finally broke through. She knew she didn’t have much time, so she needed to make this quick. She slowly lowered her arm and retracted her claws that were just about to scratch Adora right in the chest.

“I’m here.”

Being in control was so fucking painful. She crumbled to her knees. She was bleeding from her arms, her legs, her stomach. Her whole body was covered in bruises. Adora was a good fighter. Plus, the pain Prime punished her with to push her back in again. She felt like she was about to black out. Adora’s arms wrapped around her comfortingly, stroking her back, scratching behind her ear, where she liked it. She always knew where to scratch her. She was so wonderful. But Catra also felt the looming presence of Prime and Little Sister in her head. She was going to lose control. No, fuck, not so soon, not so fast–

“No, Adora, don’t– “

It happened again. Catra got shoved back by Prime’s blinding, green-toned light, and Little sister swooped in and took her place. She felt her mouth fill with the metallic taste of blood as her fangs pierced Adora’s arm. She screamed with surprise and pain, then backed up a couple steps when she’d seen her eyes change back to glowing green again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I just found out about the Kyoshi novels and immediately looked up The Rise of Kyoshi on our library's website (she's a badass bloodthirsty bisexual, of course I wanna know about her life!!). Turns out there's a 25 person queue and only one (1!) copy, so I'll probably be waiting to read it for the next 2 years and now I'm sad :((  
> Anyway, next chapter out on Sunday!


	6. Adora

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They fight with a lot of sexual tension. Adora's super sad and gay. Catra suffers. That's basically it.

Hope. That’s what she felt, even though Catra broke through for just a few seconds, even though she was feeling the pain of her arm being bitten by her sharp teeth. She could snap out of it, theoretically. So, she had to help her do it. She had to save the cat. She had to. There was no other choice.

Now that Adora was certain that she could still save her childhood friend, she had to hold back as much as possible. She didn’t want to cause Catra any more pain than she had already.

And she’d caused her a _lot_ of pain, she knew that. Not only physical, from the numerous times they’d fought together, but emotional, too. She could only guess how Catra felt when her only friend left her side. She remembered how, when they were little, even though she pushed Adora away every chance she had, she had also been extremely clingy. Even when they fought, Catra always insisted on sleeping at her feet in the same bed, and the next morning, she didn’t leave her side, even to go to the bathroom. That was her way of showing she was sorry.

But she could see that Catra was not holding back, not at all.

“Catra! Oof!” she grunted from a kick in the stomach. It sent her flying across the field to fall on her butt. “I know you’re still in there!” she stood up, not caring about the pain radiating through every cell of her body. She was bleeding where Catra’s razor sharp claws had scratched her.

She couldn’t give up. She was certain that if she didn’t survive this fight, Catra would likely not survive either. Prime would use her body in battle so recklessly that eventually, it’d give out. And she definitely couldn’t let that happen.

“Can you hear me?” she shouted, tears in her eyes now. “Do you remember me?”

There she was again. Her Catra. Her eyes flashed back to the yellow and blue she knew. She froze up in the middle of a punch to Adora’s jaw. The blonde could see that she was struggling, straining to stay present.

“I … remember. Adora.” Her voice was so raspy, filled with pain. Oh god, she shouldn’t have slashed her sword across her arm…

“Catra!” she smiled, despite the pain, despite everything going on around them. She rushed over to her, taking her body into her arms and holding her head gently. She knew she shouldn’t do this, Catra could lose control at any moment. “You’re okay. You’re okay.” She was trying to convince herself more than her. ”Stay with me, you’ve got this.”

“No. Adora…”

“Shut up and let me help you.”

Catra’s breathing was weak and strained. Her eyes were so dull, far from the strong, murderous, sexy war criminal she knew. She ripped her shirt to use as bandages on her woulds, of which there were so many of. “Is there anything more I can do to help?” she asked.

“Keep … reminding me. I can’t … forget.” Her voice was so weak now, she was almost whispering. Her eyebrows twitched constantly from the pain.

“Okay,” Adora searched for a memory she could speak about. “Ooh, what about Princess Prom? I chased you around for the whole night!” they both laughed a little, when Catra winced. Laughing was hurting her.

“It was so fucking fun distracting you.” Catra smiled as much as she could.

“I can’t even believe I fell for that!”

They both sighed nostalgically. Then, Catra hissed. She turned away from Adora, and when she turned back, it was like nothing happened in the last five minutes. She was smirking evilly and her eyes were back to glowing green again.

She stood up and lunged for Adora. She restrained her wrists to keep her from causing pain to both her and herself. She was painfully aware of how close their faces were. “You have to fight it, Catra!”

“There is no need for fighting. I have seen Prime’s light.” She said this without any emotion, almost mechanically. No trace of the lovable, hot war criminal. What had that little piece of shit done to her!?

She broke out of the hold and proceeded to try to claw her face. Adora tripped up her legs, causing her to fall flat on her back. _That must have hurt. Sorry, Catra,_ she thought. The real Catra would never fall, though. Her agility was way too strong for that. That meant Prime was controlling her every move. That meant she had none of her natural advantages in a fight, like her acrobatic abilities. She was limited to what Prime could think of.

Adora climbed on top of Catra, restraining her wrists and straddling her torso. She noticed how homoerotic this felt. _No, get your mind out of the gutter and focus on this fight!_ She’d had to do that a lot of times before, when they were fighting. Another one of Catra’s natural advantages was that she was hot. Seriously, in the Valley of the Lost, she couldn’t think about anything else than that boob window. She’d avoided run-ins with Catra after that to not get distracted again.

Anyway, back to the fight.

“Snap out of it, Catra!” she said, with come notes of desperation in her voice. “We can fix this, together!”

Catra laughed, with that sweet, psychotic laugh of hers. She kneed Adora in the stomach before kicking her from on top of her. Adora stumbled backwards, clutching her stomach.

“There is no _us_ anymore, Adora. Just me and Prime, and you, alone, in the darkness. If you come into the light, we could be together again.” She smiled, flashing her fangs.

At that moment, there was nothing Adora wanted more. Who cared if she was controlled by Prime? As long as they could be together, there was nothing else she cared about. She even began to step closer to Catra, to let her take her to Prime’s ship. But then, she remembered about all the other people she cares about. Glimmer, Bow, Perfuma, Scorpia, Sea Hawk, Mermista, Spinnerella and Netossa … the list went on. No, she couldn’t just leave them. She wanted Catra back, but not if it meant destroying her whole world.

She needed to come out of this alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm watching season 4 of The Legend of Korra (I know I'm super late) and who gave Kuvira the rIGHT TO BE THAT HOT???? Why are dictators so attractive?? My biggest tv crushes have been Catra, Azula, Octavia from the 100 (especially as Blodreina) and now Kuvira?? I think I'm seeing a pattern here 😶  
> Ok I know no one cares about me finding fictional dictators hot but chapter 7 is coming out on Wednesday :D


	7. Perfuma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Perfuma beats herself up over her weak powers, watches the battle with Entrapta and her craziness and pines over Scorpia.

Perfuma and Entrapta watched from the Whispering Woods as their friends were completely surrounded by Prime’s army. Thre were just too many attackers: bots, drones, clones and the three chipped princesses, Mermista, Spinnerella and Scorpia. Glimmer, Bow, Sea Hawk, Netossa, Frosta and Swift Wind stood in a tight circle facing outwards, currently being overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the army. Glimmer was fighting two-on-one with a clone and Spinnerella, Bow and Netossa were trying to shoot nets at Mermista and Scorpia to not hurt them, and the others were trying not to let the various bots and drones completely crush them. From what she could see, none of them were succeeding very well.

Perfuma was so frustrated that she couldn’t join them. As Prime was destroying Etheria with his machines, her powers were weakened as well. She couldn’t even grow a plant golem! Everything she conjured just immediately wilted, turned black and crumbled. She tried to produce a flower from her hands. She didn’t succeed.

She turned to look at Entrapta. She didn’t seem to be bothered by anything at all. Although she actually had something to contribute to the battle and not currently just watching from the sidelines, like Perfuma. She’d constructed a bunch of bots she was controlling remotely. Her companion watched as one of Entrapta’s bots was absolutely obliterating a squadron of clones, slamming them onto the ground, which was completely black from the fight and Prime’s machines. Another bot was trying to keep innocent chipped civilians from joining the battle. Perfuma knew no one wanted them to be hurt.

Ugh, she just wished she could help somehow! But her powers had been all she had. She’d never learned to fight without them, she’d never had to. It crushed her soul seeing Scorpia being the way she was. It took her every ounce of her self-control to not run to the middle of the battlefield, hug her and tell her it was all going to be okay. At the very least, she wanted to be involved to make sure no one was going to harm her. She was still Scorpia, after all, even when she was being influenced by her chip.

She glanced at the scene before her again. Hundreds upon hundreds of bots, drones and clones, nearly all of Etheria’s civilian population and three princesses against three princesses, two guys without any powers, a few bots and a horse? The odds were worse than she could have ever imagined. If only they had She-Ra…

Wait a second. She-Ra! Of course! She’d finally figured out even a little thing she could do to help the Rebellion! She was going to go check on Adora, how the fight with Catra was going, maybe give her some emotional assistance. She couldn’t imagine how hard it must be for her to fight Catra. She could never fight Scorpia, even if she was chipped…

“Entrapta?” she said, and the princess next to her jumped.

“Oh, stars, Perfuma, you startled me! I almost hit the “big explosion” button! I probably shouldn’t have put that right next to the “fight” button…”

“Oh, sorry!” she apologised. “I’m just telling you I’m going to go check on Adora, see how she’s doing, that kind of jazz.”

“Oh, that’s a great idea! By the way, if Catra or Adora’s dead over there, could you bring me their bodies so that I could use them for scientific experimentation?” her eyes glowed, as if she’d been talking about the crushing void of space or the fascinating mechanics of robots instead of potentially cutting Adora and/or Catra open.

“Will do,” she chuckled nervously. “I hope that they’re not, though.”

“Of course, of course.” Perfuma could see that the idea of studying someone’s biology with some unconventional methods was still in her mind. She’d been told that the first time she met Adora, she’d wanted to cut her open, so this probably wasn’t anything to be concerned about.

***

She wandered a little in the Woods before she could hear something. A voice. Adora’s voice. Where it’s coming from, that’s where they must have been fighting.

Perfuma hid behind the bushes of a large clearing. Its ground was all black, just like on the battlefield and the rest of the Whispering Woods. The trees were all dead, with their black leaves already on the ground. It looked like someone had chemically poisoned or burned all of Etheria, that someone being Prime, obviously.

Then, she noticed Adora and Catra, though it didn’t look like they were fighting at all. Catra’s head was leaning on Adora’s lap while she tended to her wounds. She didn’t see Adora’s face, but Catra was smiling weakly. The most important thing about her face, though, were her eyes. They weren’t glowing green, just her normal blue and yellow. _So they can be turned back_ , she smiled while happy and relieved tears started to form in her eyes. That meant the princesses could be saved. That meant _Scorpia_ could be saved.

She caught a glimpse of their conversation.

“I chased you around for the whole night!” Adora said, all giggly. Catra laughed, too, but it pained her. She smiled anyways. Her eyes conveyed such warmth for her companion, like she was the only person in the whole world. Perfuma hoped she’d have that with Scorpia, someday.

“It was so fucking fun distracting you.”

“I can’t even believe I fell for that!”

They shared a happy sigh, and Perfuma felt like she was intruding on something personal. A moment only they were supposed to share, alone. They’d have their happy moment and join the fight soon enough. She began to turn around to tell Entrapta everything was okay, when there was a yelp. It was coming from Adora.

When she looked at what was happening, it’s like all the hope that had built up over the five minutes she’d been hiding in the bushes was gone. Catra was fighting Adora, and her eyes were green again, just like all the others’, just like Scorpia’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas Eve Eve everybody! Next chapter up on Saturday <3


	8. Bow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bow's fighting in the battle against Prime and panicking.

“Oh my god, oh my god, we’re all going to die!!” Bow screamed at the top of his lungs while launching arrow after arrow at the bots, who were closing in on their group. Glimmer stood next to him looking extremely frustrated.

“Can you PLEASE shut the fuck up?” she groaned. “You’ve been panicking for the past two hours! You’re annoying the hell out of me! I’m trying to – “ she put her hands on her knees to catch her breath.” – Concentrate!” She sent another series of blasts at the attackers. Bow noticed that she was getting tired. Yes, they were all going to die, and no, he wouldn’t shut up.

He screamed, again. A clone was standing right in front of him. It wasn’t doing anything yet, but he could see the menacing intention in its eyes. They looked at him very forebodingly. (Was that a word? He didn’t feel like that was a word.)

Suddenly, somehting clanged behind the clone. It didn’t even have time to turn its head before it was smashed with a red scorpion tail. Bow looked in amazement as the tall, buff woman stood in front of him. But something wasn’t adding up.

He looked at the Scorpia standing in front of him, then at Netossa, who was trying to contain the chipped princesses. He stared, open-mouthed, at the burly scorpion woman in her net, then back at the one who’d just knocked out the clone trying to kill him.

“Ta-da! You should thank me, darling. I just saved your precious life.”

“Wha – “

“You know, the tail actually makes a pretty good weapon,” they said as they morphed back into their original form and bowed deeply. Their slender green form stood tall in all its glory.

“Double Trouble. Why are you helping us, exactly?” He reached behind his back for an arrow, just in case. That’s when Glimmer noticed what was happening.

“Get the FUCK away from him, you lying, betraying, manipulating-ass, frog-looking fucknugget!” She looked like she was completely ready to beat them up. She got so cute when she was mad…

“Now, sweetie, no need to get into a tizzy. I had no intention of hurting your man. Besides, he’s far too adorable to be tortured.” They winked at him.

“Why the hell are you here? Shouldn’t you be with the stronger side, being the self-serving scum that you are?” She turned to them with her hands on her hips.

“I realize you’re doubting my allegiance, but this isn’t a ruse, darling. Sure, I would normally pick the winning side, but not if they want to destroy my home planet. I’m not completely heartless, you know.” Bow didn’t know whether to trust them, everything they said sounded sarcastic.

“Well, whether you have a heart or not, I don’t trust you,” Glimmer said, pointing a finger at them. “Bow, keep an eye on them.” She turned around and started fighting the bots again.

“Sure!” He shouted in her direction. “I’m not letting them out of my – “ He looked around in every direction. How did they manage to slip away so quickly without anyone noticing?

“Uhhhhh… Glimmer? Did you happen to see where Double Trouble might have gone?”

She just gave him a look that said _ugh, this idiot_ , which Bow was surprisingly fine with.

***

They fougt side-by-side, Glimmer with her magic blasts and sorcerer’s spells and Bow with his trusty bow. Entrapta had helped him perfect the designs of his arrows, although he did have to restrain her just a little to not make them too destructive. They didn’t want to blow up the whole planet, just Prime’s massive army.

After a while, he saw in the corner of his eye a clone getting a little too close to Glimmer for comfort. It was so near her it could touch her. And it did. It balled its ugly, white robot hand into a fist hard as iron (or whatever it was made of), and brought it down to her face.

That’s when Bow began to see everything in slow motion. He couldn’t think about anything else than her getting hit by this monster created by Prime. Still in slow motion, he dropped his bow and dove for the clone. He pushed it on its back on the ground and straddled its waist between his legs. He saw red, he felt so protective of Glimmer. He raised his hand up and began to punch the clone’s face. And he did it again, and again, and again…

“This is want you get for attacking her, you stupid, ugly – “

“Bow!”

He turned his head to look in the direction of the shout. His eyes met Glimmer’s, one of them black and bruised, swelling a little. The other was filled with tears. She was lying on the ground, where she fell after the clone hit her. Her whole body was covered in little scratches and bruises, and so much blood.

“Bow, you’re scaring me! This is not who you are!”

He turned to look back at the clone to give it one last death glare and stood up. He picked up Glimmer’s staff from the ground and smashed it into its chest, just to make sure it doesn’t give them trouble again.

Then, he rushed to Glimmer. He cradled her head on his lap and inspected her numerous bruises. He reached to the side, took his bow and a frost arrow from his quiver, shot it and gathered some ice to put on her black eye. He ripped his shirt to expose his middrift even more and wrapped it around her left arm, where a huge cut bled profusely.

“Sorry for scaring you like that, Glimmer, I just wanted to make sure it wouldn’t hurt you again.”

“ _You’re_ sorry?” Glimmer started to sit up, but she winced in pain from a deep gash on her stomach. She laid back down. “It’s me who should be sorry. I’ve been so rude to you, and I almost destroyed our entire world – ”

“But you didn’t.”

She looked at him, eyes wide in surprise. “But I thought you were mad, that you would never forgive me – “

“Stop,” he breathed out and bent down, so close to her face that their noses touched. “Stop blaming yourself.”

“Wha – “

He brought his lips down to hers, and it felt like everything just snapped into place. It felt wonderful, amazing, magical. There weren’t words to describe what he felt for her in that moment. Then, he reluctantly pulled away. There was still a battle raging around them.

“I love you,” Glimmer winked, stood up (although with a hiss from the pain), picked up her staff and began fighting again like what just happened was a completely normal occurrence.

“I – I love you too…” He, on the other hand, needed a few moments to process what had just happened. He sat on his knees and let a dumb, euphoric grin come across his face.

“I JUST KISSED THE QUEEN OF ETHERIA!” He screamed at the top of his lungs.

“Way to go, my friend,” Sea Hawk said, seemingly swooping in out of nowhere. He put his hand across Bow’s shoulders.

The commotion within the clones behind them made the two friends turn around. A clone, looking perfectly unbothered, stood in the middle of at least five others around them completely knocked out. Their eyes briefly turned reptilian.

“Ta-ta, I’m off to cause some more chaos within enemy ranks!” They said, blowing Bow a kiss, which looked extremely unnerving coming from someone that looked like a clone. He waved them goodbye and they disappeared into the crowd again.

He felt surrounded by friends all around him. Now, if they get She-Ra, they were all, maybe, not going to die after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok I know some of y'all didn't want Glimmer to be happy but I tagged this Glimbow so it kinda had to happen lol  
> Chapter 9 out on Tuesday, prepare yourselves 👀


	9. Catra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit goes down.  
> TW: death

Catra was still fighting, even though it felt so useless.

As time went on, gaining control and staying in it was becoming more and more difficult. She felt more pain than the last time she tried to talk to Adora, and it felt like Prime’s grip was tightening around her neck. Her breathing became more laboured, her vision darkening around the edges, the feeling in her limbs getting fainter by the second.

He was punishing her for even the tiniest acts of defiance. Every time she tried to remember the name of the girl she was fighting, her wounds hurt just a little more. Every time she retracted her claws to not do as much damage to her, her conciousness was pushed just a little further back. Every time she tried to fight Little Sister, the attacks Prime was commanding her to do became just a little more deadly.

She was hanging on by the edges of her claws, just to stay present, just to see what was happening. To feel her fists coming into contact with her opponent’s already beaten up figure. To smell the stench of burning and rotten flesh coming from the west, where the big battle was. To taste the girl’s blood on her tongue, to hear her pleas to ‘fight it’, even though she wasn’t able to act on those pleas.

To be ready to defeat him.

Kick, scratch, uppercut.

“Catra,” the girl breathes out. “Talk to me.”

Her eyes welled up with tears, and Catra felt her own cheeks wet as well. But she couldn’t just snap out of it. Not yet.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” she said, grabbing her wrists and bringing them above their heads, restraining her. Prime didn’t like that one bit.

Catra felt her shoulders snapping out of place. She cried out in pain as Little Sister twisted her arms to wrench free of the blonde’s grasp. His and her voice in unison, they said:

“But you have already hurt her. You broke her heart. What, you thought she didn’t hurt when you left her? Curled up at the bottom of your bed, hoping the pillow still smelled like you? Holding your spare clothes to her chest? Hurting everyone else because they weren’t you?”

For a second, Adora froze up, eyes wide in shock. She didn’t think Catra missed her that much, she guessed. Adventuring with her little Best Friend Squad, while she had several mental breakdowns in that prison of a military base. Then, her face hardened up. “Get out. Leave. Her. Alone!”

She spun Catra around so easily, like she was a doll, took her sword and slashed it around the back of her neck. She was going for the chip, Catra thought. But she missed.

A deep gash opened up where the girl cut her neck. Little Sister spun on the back of her heel, so that she was facing her again.

“Now look what you’ve done.”

The warm liquid was running down her back, cascading on her shoulders, staining her perfectly white bodysuit a deep red. Prime spoke through her.

“I’ll allow you to say your goodbyes.”

Catra felt Little Sister leave for a while, though looming in the back of her mind. Listening. Ready to take her place any second.

This was when she felt the sharp pain radiating all throughout her neck. She knew she didn’t have much time left. She fell to her knees, then her side.

“Oh my god, Catra!” Adora rushed to her side, holding her close, and Catra felt her tears mix with her blood on her right shoulder. With whatever energy she had left, she squeezed her back.

“We need to fix you. We need to stop this… Entrapta!” she called into the Whispering Woods, but, of course, no one answered. They were all too far, out of earshot.

“Adora…”

“Listen to me! Entrapta’s going to heal you, everything’s gonna be fine, okay? Don’t worry.” She tried to let a small smile onto her face. It didn’t work. It sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than her.

“Adora, I…”

“Don’t talk! That’ll just make everything worse. Just wait,” she said to her in a hushed tone. “Entrapta!” she yelled again. She reached into her pocket, taking out a tracker pad. Her hands were too slick with blood to operate it, and she just ended up smudging the screen. She wiped her palms on her shirt, which still had the Horde’s logo on it. It was like she carried a little piece of Catra wherever she went.

“I love you.”

Adora stopped what she was doing. She turned to stare at Catra, eyes wide, like she was surprised to hear that coming out of her mouth.

“I always have.”

“Huh?”

“Just telling you that before I die.”

“You’re not going to die! We’ll fix you right up! We’re both going to survive and live happily ever after!” she cupped her face with her hands and looked right into her eyes. They were full of hope. Something Catra definitely didn’t have. And as much as Catra didn’t want to be a party pooper, she voiced her thoughts.

“But what if we don’t?”

“No! No, no, no,” she shook her head, desperate. “You’re going to live! With me!”

“Just … stay with me until the end, okay?” Her voice sounded weak, even to her. Catra hissed as she turned her head to face Adora better. She looked scared, then. She brought Catra in for another hug.

“Okay.”

Catra sighed into her shoulder, already feeling her spirit starting to leave her. They stayed like that, clutching each other, for a little while.

“I love you too.”

That was the last thing she heard before Prime said, loud and booming, in her head,

“Goodbye, Little Sister.” She heard a sneer in his voice. She hoped Adora would bring that motherfucker down.

And she felt the world go dark as she released a final breath into the love of her life’s shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not me putting off writing this chapter for a week cause I knew killing her was gonna hurt 😭  
> Finale chapter coming out on New Year's day, get ready


	10. Adora

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because the TW for this chapter is very spoiler-y and will basically reveal the outcome of the entire story, I've decided to put it in the end notes, not here. So, if you're sensitive about any topics, please make sure to check the end notes for the trigger warning!

As Adora embraced her body in her arms, she felt her final breath in her shoulder. She pressed her fingers to Catra’s neck, wet with all the blood, to check her nonexistent pulse.

And that’s when she finally allowed herself to break down.

She pressed her body into her chest and screamed her name. Tears were streaming like waterfalls down her cheeks, which were still red from the exhaustion of the fight.

_She’s gone._

It was the only thing she could think of right then. She didn’t have space in her head for how much her muscled ached, for the numerous wounds on her body, not even her friends fighting for their home planet just a couple miles away.

“Catra, please.”

She screamed again.

Nothing in her life had ever been this painful. Not realising what the Horde was really doing all those years ago, not seeing Salineas destroyed, not even saying goodbye to Angella in the portal Catra created.

No, nothing compared to this.

But maybe, just maybe, she could fix it.

Maybe She-Ra could fix it.

The tiniest glimmer of hope warmed her chest as she picked up her sword, held it up above her head and yelled out, determined,

“For the honor of Grayskull!”

She waited for a couple seconds for the transformation sequence to begin. For her hair to grow long, her clothes to turn into that white-and-gold superhero costume, for herself to grow into an eight-foot-tall warrior woman.

But it never happened.

She tried again, puffing up her chest, putting one of her feet onto a rock and striking a power pose, voice a little louder.

“For the honor of Grayskull!”

No, She-Ra was gone. She was gone forever and there was nothing she could do about it. And Catra was, too.

_She’s really gone._

She felt like the Horde deserter she was a long time ago. The one who couldn’t control her powers, who was so stupid and useless.

The one who was in love with her best friend the whole time and didn’t realise it until it was too late.

Adora collapsed onto her side to lie next to Catra, facing her. She saw the glassy look in her eyes, assisted them closed with her hand, curled up into a ball and sobbed.

***

“Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

Entrapta’s head turned towards Perfuma’s, one eyebrow raised. She was way too focused on her robots to pay attention to anything. She probably didn’t even notice her coming from the clearing in the Whispering Woods, where she saw Catra and Adora fighting.

“It sounded a little like Adora… Listen.”

They sat still for a minute, waiting for the sound again. Entrapta had already turned back to her bot controller when Perfuma heard it again.

“ _Catra!_ ”

Adora’s scream – and Perfuma was now sure it was Adora – was so tainted with pain and suffering. That could only mean… wait, no. That couldn’t have happened. They would find a way. Adora would fix it. Catra couldn’t be…

“Oh, now I hear it! It sounds like Catra died. Better go check on them.” Entrapta rose to her feet and put the controller on the ground. Perfuma grabbed her wrist.

“Entrapta, no. You and your bots are needed here. Besides, I think we should wait a little while. If Catra’s really… you know… then Adora would probably want some time alone.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever you say.” Entrapta crossed her legs and made her hair into a chair for herself.

Perfuma sure hoped she’d made the right decision in leaving Adora alone.

***

Adora had no idea how long she’d been crying in a fetal position next to her body. It could have been a couple minutes or a couple hours. She finally decided that now would be a good time to open her eyes.

The first thing she saw was Catra’s blood-stained face. At least her eyes were closed now. If you didn’t look very closely, maybe it could look like she was sleeping peacefully. With someone else’s blood on her face… and clothes… and still pooling at the back of her neck…

Then, Adora came to a realisation.

_I killed her._

_It was me who cut her neck._

Adora had killed her childhood best friend, her former worst enemy, the… love of her life?

She needed to get away.

So, she began wandering in the Whispering Woods. She noticed now that they looked wrong somehow. All the plants, the trees, even the ground – they were all black. Like they were poisoned.

So that’s what Perfuma meant when she said Prime was destroying the planet.

But even the blackened planet couldn’t take her mind off the one thought that filled her head completely.

_I killed Catra. I killled Catra. I killed Catra._

She now heard the sounds of battle creep closer. She must be walking in the direction of the big fight with the Horde.

She saw the edge of the forest now. She pushed aside the low-hanging tree branches that were blocking her view of the battleground. What she saw was not pleasing to the least.

The Horde army took up almost her whole field of vision. For miles and miles, she only saw bots of all shapes and sizes. Drones completely covered the sky. And in the distance, right on the horizon, she saw the little speck of color that was the Rebellion.

_All my fault._

They didn’t stand the tiniest chance.

All that fighting brought back the thing she was trying her hardest to take her mind off of.

_I killed Catra. I killed Catra. I killed Catra._

She was now just going where her legs were taking her. And they led her to the place she was trying to walk away from.

She saw the clearing, with Catra lying still in the middle of it.

_I killed Catra. I killed Catra. I killed Catra._

And there was nothing she could do about it.

With her gone, what is there for Adora to live for anymore?

Her friends were on the brink of losing the war.

If only her and Bow didn’t go to Beast Island to save Entrapta. Then, Glimmer wouldn’t have connected Scorpia to the Black Garnet and launched them out of Despondos. Prime wouldn’t have come to Etheria and captured Catra.

_All my fault._

_Everything would be better if I was gone._

So, she did the only thing that seemed right at the moment. She picked up her sword, which was still laying next to Catra, grabbed it with both hands and fell to her knees.

With tears running down her blood-stained face, she plunged the sword right through her heart.

Adora’s body collapsed on its side next to Catra’s.

They were, finally, together again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for the chapter: suicide
> 
> Well, that wasn't exactly a happy ending. Can't say you weren't warned though.  
> For my next story, I have two options:  
> 1\. the sequel to this one, the war's lost and Entrapta (maybe someone else too) surrenders herself to Prime's ship, becomes his tech master and tries to figure out how to escape from there. feat. an Entrapdak reunion and new planets  
> 2\. a pre-s1 Catra/Lonnie fic where the whole time all Catra thinks about is Adora (aka why Catra seems to have much more beef with Lonnie than Kyle or Rogelio during the show) feat. prime teen angst and clueless Adora  
> Let me know in the comments which one you'd rather see first! I have no idea when the first chapter's coming. Could be a week, could be a month :p May or may not release a couple oneshots in the meantime, so subscribe to me to stay updated!


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